10 Unknown Facts About Madhubani Paintings of Bihar

India is a land of creativity, art and culture, Madhubani Painting is one of the most famous art of Bihar mostly practiced in Mithila and some other parts of Bihar. This unique style of art was used by the women to decorate their house walls and doors in order to seek God’s blessing in the form of prosperity and peace.

Facts about Madhubani Paintings

1- Ramayana Period

Madhubani paintings are usually based on the religious themes like the images of God like Lord Krishna, scenes from Ramayana, etc.

According to history the the origin of this art goes back to the Ramayana era when on the occasion of Sita’s marriage his father Raja Janaka arranged large number of artists to decorate entire kingdom with this unique art.

2- Unique Style of Painting

Madhubani paintings are painted with natural colors using a paste of cow dung and mud to give a better texture to the walls. Artists used only natural colors in their art they used turmeric , pollen or lime and blue from indigo.

The juice of kusum flower was used for crimson hue, red sandalwood or rose. Similarly they used different natural materials for their color needs.

3- Discovery of Madhubani Paintings

Before 1930 no one outside Madhubani region knew about this rare decorative traditional art. In 1934 Bihar suffered with major earthquake. British officer of Madhubani area William G. Archer who was very fond of Indian art and culture found this unique art on damaged walls of Madhubani during his inspection.

4- Deforestation Prevention

This is lesser known fact about this amazing Art which makes these paintings unique. Madhubani Artists use Madhubani paintings as a way to prevent trees from being cut down.

Madhubani art is not just about for decorations because most of these paintings depict Hindu deities. Artists make these paintings on trees depicting Hindu deities, and strong religious beliefs inhibit people from chopping them down.

5- Geometric Design

In modern world floral paintings too became a part of Madhubani Art. These paintings looked alluring due to its geometric designs and vibrant colors. Madhubani paintings are also known as Godhna, Maithili, Chitra figure paintings.

6- No Sketch

Madhubani artists make use of bold hues in order to draw the geometric designs and the floral patterns.

Another main specialty of this divine art is these are created without the use of the sketch, this unique style of painting makes this art different from other popular paint arts.

7- Concept

Madhubani paintings are drawn in accordance with a fixed theme and accordingly symbols, lines, patterns are drawn. For instance, the symbol fish stands for fertility, good luck and procreation whereas peacocks usually indicate love, religion and romance, serpents stand for divine protectors and so on.

8- Home Wall to Textile Design

Till 60’s this unique and rare art used to be done on freshly plastered mud walls of houses in madhubani village, it was nothing more than tradition for them.

It was done basically by women during festivals or other important occasions. By the late 1970s these artists started getting attention from various art dealers across the country. This resulted the demand of this art in other forms as well in modern world Madhubani art has received immense commercialization, it can be seen on sarees, dupattas, salwar suits, etc., now it is being created on paper, cloth, canvas, wall hangings etc too.

Elephant Painted on Handmade Paper

9- International Demand

People in Japan are very familiar with India’s Madhubani art and it is renowned and appreciated in many other countries as well. One of its kind The ‘Mithila Museum’, in Tokamachi hills in Japan`s Niigata prefecture and a brainchild of Tokio Hasegawa, is a treasure house of 15,000 unique and rare exquisite Madhubani paintings.

10- Dedicated Organizations

There are many dedicated organizations working to support this rare art of india. There are many exclusive Galleries containing collection of Madhubani paintings in India and abroad. In Bengaluru, Delhi & Bihar many non-profit organizations are working with Madhubani artists to promote and support them.

The Mithila Art Institute (MAI), a free art school in Madhubani town, was founded by the EAF in January 2003 as a modest effort that might last two or three years.